Keeping Women Safe

26 Feb Keeping Women Safe

We are excited to bring to your attention a very important event that we have posted on WorldFamilyNews.com! Every year, United Families International partners with Howard Center in sponsoring a World Congress of Families. This year it will be held in Sydney, Australia, on May 15-18, 2013. The theme is “Happy Families – Healthy Economy” and we will explore how business, government, education, law, health and the media can strengthen families for the benefit of society.

We are especially excited to announce that we have been selected to offer a presentation at this event that will explore creative solutions to world problems through strengthening the family. We would LOVE for you to join us for this outstanding educational and networking opportunity. Come to Australia and meet the people and organizations from around the world that are working to protect and preserve YOUR family. Please visit this website by March 28 for an early bird discount. Contact us at ufi.unitedfamilies.org to become part the UFI team that will be attending together.

Keeping Women and Girls Safe

This is last week of February–and one of the busiest weeks of my year. As always the staff at United Families International is scrambling to pack bags filled with research guides, identify and secure UN badges for all our allotted spots, and complete the training of new advocates in the protocol and power of the United Nations. CSW or Commission on the Status of Women starts next week! (March 5-15) The theme for the commission is a noble one–“Eliminating All Forms of Violence Against Women and Girls.” One would think that that would be a worthy topic for the nations of the world to work together to address. But consider what we will be battling:

* Feminist activist Gloria Steinem says that because of domestic violence “the home in our country is the single most dangerous place for a woman” and that ending domestic violence is “the key to world peace.” Insinuating, of course, that marriage is a problem and that we need to get women out of the home!
* The right to unfettered abortion, known in UN documents as “reproductive health” is always an issue to be dealt with. Most dangerous and controversial is sex-selective abortion. It is always appalling to me that the very voices that claim to be fighting to eliminate discrimination against women see nothing wrong with the greatest discrimination of all–killing an unborn child just because the baby is a girl. That is the one form of violence against women that feminist activists don’t seem willing to address.
* Sex trafficking and sexual abuse are other forms of violence against women that deserve our careful consideration. The opposition we face invariably wants to legalize prostitution – under the guise that if you regulate “sex work” like any other business you will solve the trafficking problem.
* The UN wishes to create massive international intervention programs that take the sovereignty from the family, the state, and the national control and puts the protection of our women and girls in the hands of international bureaucratic committees far removed from the concerns of the individuals whose lives and happiness are at stake.

What is the real solution to a world where women and girls are safe and protected from violence and harm?

Social science clearly shows that the safest place for women and girls is within the walls of a home where a family with a stable marriage works together to assure that every woman’s best interest and protection is secure!

* The social science data regarding violence against adolescent girls stacks up highly in favor of a stable family life. Adolescent girls who have never lived apart from their parents are seven times less likely to report sexual abuse than those who have.
* Domestic violence is most common in the transitory, free-form, cohabitating relationships that are surging in numbers. The claim that married women are subject to greater risk of violence collapses under the weight of research. While there are serious and lamentable exceptions that must be addressed, the research is unequivocal: overall, marriage is the safest place for women and children. (Marriage Advantage, pg 14)
* The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey found violent behavior among men strongly linked to marital status. Comparing the violent crimes against women committed by intimates during a year’s period, 65% were committed by either boyfriends or ex-husbands, compared with 9% by husbands. Additional studies indicate that aggression was at least twice as common among cohabiters as in is among married partners. (Cohabitation vs. Marriage, pg 28-29 )
* Children in several nations were beaten by stepfathers at a rate of 100 times more than biological fathers. Children residing with stepparents were at higher risk of abuse even when socio-economic factors were considered. (Cohabitation vs. Marriage, pg 30)

We are excited to be YOUR voice at CSW where we will fight for protective language in UN documents that will inevitably affect the sovereignty and safety of women around the world. We know, without a doubt, because social science research repeatedly verifies the common sense fact that, the best way to reduce violent crime against women is to rebuild stable families!